I Lost a Butt Fight (Seriously)

Unleash Your World!

Author

Rick Higgins
February 11, 2024

Deep down in Baja California, at an event called Escapar, I found myself engaged in battle against complete strangers. Butt-to-butt. Fighting for survival. Armed only with a shot of tequila and my Crocs in sport mode. And I …

What is Escapar?

We went down to the near-bottom of Baja to join a festival of van lifers, nomads, and general all around good people. The event is called Escapar a la Baja … or Escape to Baja.

It’s run by a group called The Journal of Lost Time and we had an absolute blast. I’ll link to the video below and give you all the details, but first I want to share a personal experience. Because I changed a bit after I got there.

I got lost, in the best way possible.

All of the usual life things were happening all around me. Meeting folks, cooking dinner, staving off crisis and crisis … and at a certain point I just gave in. Our Starlink died (and was later resurrected, long live Starlink) and I was pissed! Basically I was in a super-grump and completely ready to throw myself into the ocean.

But for some reason, after hours of that miserable funk, I just decided to let things go. Just accept whatever was in front of me and stop letting the world determine my attitude. I discovered just how easy it is to disconnect from the nonsense.

OK, maybe it wasn’t and isn’t all that easy. But I have been testing my newfound chill ever since … and it seems to be holding up.

We’re planning on staying down here in Baja for quite some time, exploring and wandering. I’ll keep you updated on how chilly I stay. LOL!

Oh, and PS: The event was a must-return! It was exactly my kind of gathering. The people were so welcoming and friendly. The place was beautiful, nestled between mountains, cacti, and the beach. And the locals really made us feel welcome. Yep, we’ll be back next year.

Are you tired of your normal 9-5 suburban existence? Do you dream of living on the open road, becoming an expat, or just traveling wherever your heart wants to wander? Then have we got a FIVE STEP PROGRAM for you!

https://nomads.academy

I Am … BUTT FIGHTER?

Seriously, I am now a butt fighter. LOL! It was one of the “events” down at Escapar. The lady at the beginning of the video was walking around, signing up people, and naturally I had to give it a go.

But here’s the thing … even though it looks like I was in the middle of the pack, I was the first fight. No one else knew what was supposed to happen, so me and “Gluttious Minimus” (his stage name, I simply went with “Rick”) … well, we had to lead off blind. And bent over.

The match seemed to last for hours, with the crowd hooting and hollering. When I looked at the footage, it was actually just over a minute. And I lost. My balance wavered for a moment, he slipped aside, and viola … I was a spectator.

But the event was a real hoot. And at one point in the video I ask you to remind me to tell the tale of Driving in La Paz. Well, here it is …

Our travel companions, who live in a smaller truck, suggested we drive down the malecon. That's essentially the boardwalk area of a beach. Where all the people are.

So we did. Right up until traffic was just too much and I took a right hand turn down a one way road to get the heck out. Turns out that road just kept getting narrower and narrower until I simply couldn't go any further.

Remember, this is a one way road FILLED with cars and people.

Having no other option I turned into a small parking lot of a convenience store and tried to figure things out. I could turn left onto another one way street, but cars were pushed right up to the exit, so there was no way a 30' bus could make it out. My only other escape was the first one-way street that was too narrow. What to do?

Cars and people were just pouring through those two crossed roads. So during a very small break, I floored it right down the wrong way, back to the malecon. My GPS is screaming at me that I'm going the wrong way. People are honking (and trying to still drive against me). And somehow I managed to get the two blocks down and out to ... the traffic jam. Which at least was going the correct way.

I managed to bang the exhaust pipe against something, so that needs fixing. A cop passed by me just as I was fleeing, and fortunately he never caught up.

So ... the lesson here is now I know EXACTLY how much room I need in The Huckleberry. LOL!

I'm Broke …

I’ve been holding on to a story idea for some time now, but I really don’t think it would make for an entertaining video. So let’s just plop the script here, all in the hopes of getting the tale out there and helping both you and I.

Once upon a time, I quit my job and pursued a life of travel and adventure.  I cashed in my 401k and decided to enjoy life while I was still healthy and wise, figuring I would return to "normal life" in a couple of years when the money ran out.

It's been a couple of years.

Hi, I'm Rick, welcome back to the journey.

Once upon a time, before I became a struggling YouTuber and Skoolie Bus Driver, I was a software engineer for a major cosmetics company.  And when I left, it was with the words of my employer still ringing in my head … you'll always have a job here when you want to return.

I took solace in that.

I was naive.

So here we are two years later and I recently called them up, seeing what was available.  It seems that things have changed.

For 14 years I technically worked for a consulting company that served that cosmetics client.  And I loved them.

The client, not my contracting company.

We were all completely one team, it was just that I just got my paycheck from a different source.

Well … it seems the relationship between my paycheck company and my work company has … shall we say … strained itself while I was gone  The consulting company for which I worked has apparently been taken over by the bean counters and bureaucrats.  So much so that the cosmetics company won't hire from them.

Which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.

Which brings on the irony.

You see, I started this YouTube channel to show everyone just how easy and simple it is to shed your corporate cloaks and live life on your own terms.  And it is … assuming you have a few bucks in the bank.

But now I have to walk the walk.  Actually do and prove that it's possible.

Scary, right?

So to set the stage for this tale … I'm out of money, I need money, so I have to work in some capacity.  I also want to live this nomadic life for the rest of my days.  How to put it all together?

I figure I have five options to solve my current financial problems:

Number 1:
I can sell unused internal organs and body fluids for cash.

Number 2:
I can start an OnlyFans page and hope that there is an audience that craves 62 year old chubby guys.  I think I could sell that.

Number 3:
I can dig up my 16 years out of date resume, polish it, and try to find gainful employment the old fashioned way.

Or … I can look at my only real two possibilities.

I can approach my old client directly and see what opportunities they have.

Or I can do the scary thing.  Try the gig economy path and spend the next 6-8 months before my 401k completely empties and start learning how to earn enough to get by.  That and start social security early to augment the ole pocketbook.

Honestly, number 4 … talking to ELC, my old client … is the least risky option.  The one that I should do.  But it's not the one that I WANT to do.

My heart and my passion are with my current life.  My creative life.  With YouTube.

Here’s the thing.  If I don't try this last all hands on deck throw the hail Mary pass, I’ll deeply regret not trying.

But the odds are sadly against me.  So where is the point where risk becomes stupidity?

So I need to make a decision.  And I also need YOUR help.  In the comments … yes, you have to play along, yea you! … what would you do?  What major financial decisions have you made and do you now wish you had been braver?  Or perhaps less of a risk taker?

I've got maybe a few more months before the decision is made for me and becomes one of survival.  Which means I’ll have to start selling a kidney and plasma.

Wish me luck.  Thanks for watching.

Do you have a story that you’d like to tell on our Reflections Podcast? What, you didn’t know we had a podcast?

Reflections is a video podcast, simultaneously broadcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other outlets. Similar to The Moth from NPR, each episode showcases three storytellers who share tales from their own lives. Successes, failures, lessons learned. Travel, humor, and real life.

And we’d like to feature YOU as a storyteller!

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